


Someone Else Might Love You Too

by tupelouharry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, but it all works out!!, harry makes my heart hurt, harry worships louis, same harry same
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 23:24:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2044170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tupelouharry/pseuds/tupelouharry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Harry decides that four years of heartbreak is enough for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone Else Might Love You Too

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my twitter followers who I love and whom inspire me to carry on writing, a passion I have had for as long as I can remember. Your kindness warms my heart. 
> 
> Title is rather obviously from 'Friends' by Ed Sheeran 
> 
> Enjoy xo

It was a simplistic Tuesday evening when Harry plucked up the courage.

After years of seemingly never-ending agony in its harshest form, unrequited love, it was decided in his head that it was now or never. It was straight forward - Harry simply could not and would not envisage his smothering feelings for his best friend disappearing anytime soon, and point blank refused to carry on living his life hiding something as huge and life dominating from him, as he stood metres away wrapped up in his girlfriend. It’s not like Eleanor was a bad person. Really. If there was one thing Harry hated, it was to hate people. And so he couldn’t do it. But well, that certainly didn’t stop him trying.

She was beautiful was the thing. Chestnut coloured hair making its way down her back in messy ringlets, Harry’s own matted curls paling in comparison. Her eyes were a mesmerising brown, easy to get lost in for days, which Louis never failed to do. And Harry never failing to observe, no matter how much he knew in the back of his mind, he would learn to regret when the memories kept him from peace at night. She was clever and sociable. She was everything Louis wanted and deserved in a girlfriend.

The frustrating thing for Harry was that he knew that his love towards Louis was not really unrequited, only not meant with the sincerity that he did. For Harry, that’s what hurt the most. Often, he thought one night when he had been jerked from sleep once again, with a man being in love with another man the problem arises when the man he is in love with is not gay himself. Harry was aware that that was not the problem with Louis. 

It was like a dagger to his chest; because it could have easily be him.

It could’ve been him that walked easily down the street with Louis, hand in hand, sunlight beaming from the grin on his face because, yeah, he’s in love. It could have been the two of them sharing a bed every night, holding one another, pressing kisses to every inch of skin.

It could’ve so easily been him.

Harry propped his hip up against the frame of the wooden arch leading into the music room that him and Louis shared. His eyes darted around, landing on notebooks and pens littered amongst platinum records and golden statues. Only to Harry, not even his treasured journal was the most precious thing held within those four walls.

Louis lay comfortably on the cream sofa, bare feet propped up on a matching plush cushion. His head lolled against the arm of the chair as he strummed mindlessly at the guitar he had cradled in his arms. He wore grey joggers that perched perfectly on his hips and a tired white t-shirt (that was Harry’s no doubt). His hair was swept across his face in a fluffy fringe, smile stretched across his face, teasing at the smallest hint of a dimple.

Harry was so in love with him.

“We’re like dominoes.” Harry barely spoke as he stood in the doorway, body language oozing confidence, but heart leaping out of his chest. He had never thought it possible to be so ready and so scared all in one instant. But then again, everything he felt for Louis was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, or anything he will experience again. Louis was it, for Harry.

Louis gazed up at Harry, looking somewhat disturbed, yet relaxed when his blue eyes met green. Not long after, the confusion of what Harry had said had begun to settle in.

“Dominoes, right.” He laughed, turning his attention back to his guitar, smile making its way back onto his face. “You do talk some shit sometimes, Harry. You know that?”

In any other situation (and there have been many) where Louis had said those exact words to Harry, he would have tried to respond, match Louis’ quirky statement with something nowhere near as intimidating as he had hoped. Tried to fake hurt, but let Louis pull him into his arms anyway. Press kisses to his cheeks. Watch a romcom. Try desperately not to kiss him on his pink, inviting lips; the smell of strawberry floating around him hint at what he tastes like. So. A normal day, then.

But this time had to be different. If Harry went so much as another day without him and Louis being on the same page, well. He just doesn’t know. It would be the final straw, definitely. It would tear him to shreds more with Louis not knowing than it would with him being aware of Harry’s uncontrollable feelings towards him, and not returning them. Although, both outcomes aren’t looking too promising. Harry was sure he’d get hurt. So, yeah, this time. It had to be different.

Harry takes a deep breath. “We’re like dominoes, Lou.”

“Yeah, you sa-“

“I fall for you,” Harry continued, the words burning the tip of his tongue. He raised his voice, rushing the last part of the sentence, as if the words he spoke genuinely were on fire. They hurt him as if they were, at least. “And you fall for another.”

And, oh. There it is; the calm before the storm. Harry exhaled, long and loud. Louis just sat, position unchanged, facial expression the same. But even a two year old could notice Louis’ mind was whirring, processing new information. Because, it was all out there – the air clean, the page turned. Harry was petrified to near tears. Louis still hadn’t moved.

So Harry did.

With one last look at the confusion settling in on Louis’ face, Harry turned out of the music room and dashed to the garden. He had asked Louis when they moved in if his could dedicate the bottom of their oversized garden to an ‘area of peace’, to which Louis giggled and ruffled Harry’s hair before granting him permission to do “whatever makes your dimples show, sunshine.”

He rushed there now; tears blinding his vision as the grass passed him in a blur of vibrant green. The air was still, not quite warm, not quite cold. The grey clouds above were a dead cert that it was to rain, so Harry vacated to the shed, where he sunk into a cushioned chair and tried to make sense of what he had just done.

He had confessed to Louis. And that’s, well. That alone seemed as though it would take a lifetime to get over. Harry couldn’t truly gage Louis’ response in the few seconds that he had managed to stay in the room, but the mere fact that he was not holding Louis in arms at that very moment was a giveaway that Louis wasn’t exactly overjoyed with the news. Who would be? ‘Yeah, hi, I’m your best friend, we live together, you have a girlfriend, but I’ve been in love with you since I accidentally peed on your leg?’

Because that would go down a treat.

Only, it would, with Harry. If Louis had followed Harry, to his place where he comes to be alone, he wouldn’t turn him away. He had always quite fancied the idea of being alone with Louis.

The rain tapped lightly on the glass of the little hut, the slight noise accompanying the cogs as they turned in Harry’s head. He needed to think this through now. No more putting things off until they suited his fragile state of mind. As if he could be broken any more. 

**

Meanwhile, back in the music room, an evident silence had fallen. Louis sat in shock, not knowing what to do. Taking a breath, he focused his attention back onto his guitar. His hands were still shaking slightly as an aftershock of the bomb his best friend had just dropped on him. Another breath. Louis reached for a notebook from the towering stack behind him, in desperate need of a release from his feelings. He needed them anywhere but in his head.

‘Why is it so hard to say it?’

And there it was– the lyric he had been looking for. His hands became more frantic at they searched for a notebook this time, knocking a tattered leather designed book to the floor. Louis didn’t need to look twice to see what it was. It was Harry’s journal. The only thing that he hardly ever let out of his sight. He would probably bring it out on stage with him if he could, Louis thought with a fond roll of his eyes. As he left the sofa to return it to the pile, he froze.

‘She doesn’t deserve his heart.’

Written on the front in black biro ink, the strongest proof of Harry’s love for Louis that he had found to date. It made his breath catch in his throat and tears gather in his eyes because, wow. 

He had made a huge mistake.

Hastily, he jotted down his new lyric on the page in his own notebook entitled ‘Harry’, nestled in his messy scrawl with lyrics such as ‘I’m sorry if I say I love you’ and ‘Love that’s been wasted’. With one look at the first lyric and a nod of the head, Louis drew a heavy line through ‘love’ and wrote ‘NEED’. Louis composed himself for what seemed to be the one hundredth time that day, and made his way to the garden bare foot. Louis stood at the entrance to the garden, entranced by the rain as if fell to the patio. It felt nice to breathe in the open air. Despite the rain, he ran for shelter under a cherry tree that Harry had fallen in love with when they looked around the house. He smiled at the memory as he hoisted himself up onto one of the branches. He looked briefly at Harry’s shed, considering residing in there before shaking his head. He wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt his boy. That’s why he needed to fix this, he thought, pulling out his phone and dialling the only person he knew would help.

**

“Zayn? Man. You’ll never guess.” A brief pause. “No, no, nothing like that. Harry just told me something.”

Either Harry finally went insane, or he could hear a voice from where he currently found himself, curled up in a ball in his shed, tears steadily streaming down his face. It just so happened to be the accent he fell in love with at sixteen years old.

“No! Something amazing, perfect considering my situation, really.” Louis said, causing Harry’s ears to prick up at the smile in his voice. "He said, ‘We’re like dominos. I fall for you, you fall for another.’”

And well. Harry couldn’t breathe. Because the only reason Louis would be talking to Zayn about this would be for advice. 

“I know, God I know!” Louis spoke, running frustrated fingers through his fringe as a smile played on his lips.

Harry didn’t know what for, so he could only stifle his sobs as he listened on.

“I’m so in love with him, man.”

And in all honesty, Harry’s instinctive reaction was to laugh; a short, rather loud chortle before he blocked It out with his hands covering his lips, bitten red raw. Why would this happen to him, of all people? How could it happen to anyone? It just doesn’t. So Harry simply refused to believe it. Blame it on a slip of the tongue, or a misinterpretation, maybe. Anything less painful than listening to Louis tell someone that wasn’t him how much he loved him. It just doesn’t happen. So in Harry’s mind, it didn’t. This new strategy worked for a prolonged period of time, before the next words came tumbling from Louis lips. Harry caught them as he began to walk away, halting in his shaky tracks, heartbeat thumping an unsteady rhythm in his ears.

“It’ll crush him though, make me look bad.” Louis whispered, choking up with every word he uttered into the bushes and the phone in his hand.

Tears began to cloud Harry’s vision once more. That was an assertive statement if ever he heard one, a one hundred percent chance of heartbreak. Heart destruction sounded more accurate. Ripping his heart front where it lay nestled in his chest and screaming at the top of his lungs ‘Hey! Look what I did!” The most accurate description yet. Harry wonders why heartbreak isn’t described like that in romance novels and romcoms, before he comes to the realisation that, this isn’t a romcom. And there is no way that this can end with a kiss in the rain accompanied by soppy music and ending credits written in flowy script. That’s not real life. This is.

“No Z, what it will make me look like is a coward. And what about El? How do I say ‘yeah I was only dating you to protect my best mate that I’ve been in love with since he peed on my leg?’?” Louis’ voice rose defensively, as a sigh of defeat fell from his lips.

Silence.

“Exactly.” Louis sobbed, tears flowing freely now. “I’ll just have to talk to him about it, hope he understands.”

That was Harry’s que, to run from the rickety shed, out of the back gate unnoticed. To disappear without a trace. But, his heart simply wouldn’t allow it, for want of a better way to phrase the phenomena that kept Harry rooted in his spot, slumped against the wall. He couldn’t escape. He was missing something. Someone. Harry knew then that he couldn’t run from Louis because you can’t truly escape such a vital piece of yourself, no matter how hard you try.

“I just, I love him so much. I can’t bear to lose him, Zayn.” Louis whispered again, his hushed tones forcing the reality of the situation upon Harry. He couldn’t breathe. “I know, I’ll talk to him right now. Promise. I owe you man. Bye.”

The time trudged by endlessly, Louis letting out a groan of frustration as he reached for a branch of the weathered tree above his head as Harry daren’t move.   
A pin could’ve dropped, and despite the loudest clatter it would have made, both boys were too sucked into their thoughts of one another to have acknowledged it. The silence was deafening. The trees rustled and the bird’s soared, yet not one noise was heard. Although this was exactly what they went outside for, it was too much and too little all at once. To put it lightly, it was suffocating. 

And Harry couldn’t take it any longer. Four years of silence had torn them both apart unfair amounts over the time that they had known each other and grown closer. One might believe that one extra moment of peace wouldn’t have made any impact, but Harry knew. He knew that believing this over weeks, months and years has made almost irreparable damage. This time, he remembered from earlier on, had to be different.

“Why don’t you make your move, Lou?” he breathed, causing Louis to spin on one foot to face his tired, bloodshot eyes. “Why is it always me?”

“Harry, I can ex-“

“Oh, you can explain, can you? So tell me this, Louis. If you can explain, if you love me so much, why am I in a heap on the floor and you can still stand on two legs? That’s not love. But then again, I wouldn’t know, because you are all I’ve known since I was fucking sixteen!” Harry shouted, voice climbing, face tinting cherry red from the anger in his heart that had evidently made its way to his lungs. 

“Harry, for fucks sake, let me speak!” Louis retaliated, eyes swimming in pools of hurt. “To answer your question, I am a fuck up, okay? I guess, well I know, that I’ve never really known love either. And you know why. I fell in love with you at first sight and I got scared! I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do! So I thought that if I started dating Eleanor then you would give up on me. But I just hurt you more and now I’m going to hurt her too. I’m turning into the monster I’ve been avoiding and I just. I’m so fucking scared, Harry.”

That was all the permission Harry needed to scoop Louis into his arms, and hold him closer than he ever could. That was Louis as Harry had never seen him; vulnerable and offering every single inch of himself to Harry on a silver platter, similar to the way Harry had been since he was sixteen years old.

“Hey. I didn’t mean what I said, you know that.” Harry murmured into Louis hair, which was now dampened with innocent tears. “You know I love you, Lou. I love all of you. I’ll never stop, no matter what you say or do. And I know that some people would see that as a curse, but honestly, I couldn’t be happier to feel that way about you.”

Louis began to frantically shake his head trying to resist Harry’s lock tight grip on his waist. “No. You can’t love me, Harry.” Louis spoke, voice breaking as he caught hold of Harry’s wrist, tugging him closer, eyes searching one another. “How can you after everything I’ve done?”

That was something new. That wasn’t sarcastic, nor confident. That is genuine. That was Louis and that was then, in their moment.

“How can’t I?” Harry laughed as he dragged a lazy finger through Louis’ messy fringe. “Babe, it would be quicker for me to make a list of reasons I don’t love you. Honestly. You’re cute, no wait, you’re fucking gorgeous. You look amazing in any outfit, and hairstyle. You can be so many things: sarcastic, caring, funny, smart. But overall, you’re just loveable. And you’re Louis. No one else can be Louis Tomlinson, and no one else, ever, would do it as well as you. Your voice, god. It makes me melt away. It’s sweet, kinda like caramel? And I want it all. I don’t want to share you Lou. And, I know that’s not fair, because you would brighten everyone’s day’s just by popping a head through the door. But the thing I love most about you, Louis Tomlinson? You loved me when I couldn’t love myself. And if telling you all of this makes me a fool, then I’m a fool in love. With you.” Harry hesitated slightly, catching his breath. “I mean, if that’s okay?”

The silence deafened the two boys as they waited through bated breath. Louis’ lip quirked slightly on the left side, exposing a shimmering white tooth or two.

“Never stopped you before, did it sunshine?” Louis grinned as he reached carefully for Harry, hands winding and settling on the small of his neck.

“Wait, Lou.” Harry took a slight step back, Louis’ hands slowly falling from their position. “We aren’t just friends, are we? Because I couldn’t do that. Not with you.”

More silence. Trained glances at one another’s’ faces, trying to guess what’s to come, as if that’s where the answers lay. For the two of them, their answers lie in wait in the stars for the longest time. It just took a little time for them to be found. And that’s okay. It lead them here; in Harry’s ‘Garden of Peace’ as the rain poured down. It lead them to one another.

“I sure hope not.” Louis spoke up suddenly, shattering the silence like a hammer to a pane of glass, causing Harry’s head to jerk up and his eyes to meet Louis’. “Otherwise, this is going to get complicated.”

Their first kiss wasn’t anything spectacular, like in the movies. There was no roaming hands, nor awkward moments. There was no sudden spark – for it had been there all along. It was simply harryandlouis, as it always had been. 

They stood together in that spot under the cherry tree for a while; foreheads pressed together, uncontrollable smiles breaking out onto each worn pair of lips.

“I never liked playing dominos anyway.” Harry spoke after a while.

“I never liked playing with you at all.” Louis replied, hesitance shadowing his words.

“Then let’s not?” Harry countered, causing Louis to look into his eyes, concern flashing through them like a warning sign. Harry quickly grasped the angle Louis had taken towards his words and hurriedly began to backtrack, grasping desperately at his hands and intertwining their fingers. “Not like that! God, no. I mean, no games, no lies. Just you and me.” 

“You and I?” Louis repeated, rising onto the tips of his toes, pressing his lips to Harry’s once more. “It was always meant to be like this, love.”


End file.
